Marietta Giannakou
Encyclopedia
Marietta Giannakou is a Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 politician, member of New Democracy
New Democracy (Greece)
New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...

. She is the former Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs of Greece
Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs (Greece)
The Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs , formerly the Ministry for National Education and Religious Affairs , is a government department of Greece...

.

She was born in Geraki Lakonias and she became a doctor and neuro-psychologist at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Athens. She has been a member of the Greek Parliament, vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on European Affairs, a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defence, and a member of the Interparty Parliamentary Committee on the examination of the drugs problem. Moreover, she is the chairman of the Greek Friendship Group between the Parliaments of Greece and Poland and member of the Greek Friendship Groups between the Parliaments of Greece and the United States and of Greece and Morocco. National Coordinator and Member of the Horizontal Working Party on Drugs of the Council of the European Union. Chairman of the Balkans/Middle East Regional Group of the Dublin Group of the Council of the European Union. Member of the Political Bureau of the European People’s Party. She was a former Minister of Health, Welfare and Social Security, as well as a former member of the Greek Parliament. She was also a former member of the European Parliament, as well as the former head of the Delegation of the New Democracy Party in the European Parliament. She used to be the chairman of the European Committee “Fourth World”, as well as the former vice-president of the European Christian Democratic Union. In her lifetime, she has published numerous scientific articles and reports pertaining to European perspectives towards drug problems, organized crime, women in contemporary societies, as well as social policies.

Giannakou was appointed Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs
Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs (Greece)
The Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs , formerly the Ministry for National Education and Religious Affairs , is a government department of Greece...

 on 10 March 2004.She tried to change the law so that private universities will be recognized because private universities are forbidden by the 1975 constitution.Her Educational policy lead to massive demonstrations by students and teachers.

Giannakou failed to win a seat in the September 2007 parliamentary election and lost her position in the Cabinet.

On February 6, 2008, due to an older injury on her right leg, she entered Errikos Dunan hospital of Athens. On February 7, the doctors were unable to restore its former condition proceeded to an amputation below the knee. Further complications led to an above knee amputation. She had an uncomplicated recovery and she returned to the active politics.

In May 2009 she was chosen to lead the New Democracy
New Democracy (Greece)
New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...

 EP list and she was subsequently elected as 1 of the 22 Greek MEPs
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK